1" body/head 18650/123A do-everything light

[Joe Talmadge]

I have! I've been an unabashed fan of the XT interface from the day Klarus came out with it (minus their puzzling variations, like the non-momentary interface on the new XT1C). The thing for me is that I've figured out that, in a light this size and in this role, I'm looking for more bias towards throw. The XT2CR, despite its high lumens, is a low 14kcd. Lights this size have been getting close to this candela for many years, even with XMLs! State of the art is at LEAST 50% great than Klarus is able to get from this, and within the next month or so, there should be at least two lights at exactly the same form factor that more than double the XT2CR's throw. Just as I"m puzzled as to why Klarus ruined their XT interface on the XT1C, I'm puzzled as to why they chose to not bias towards throw on the XT2CR.

That, of course, is just my personal preference. I think it looks like a hell of a light for anyone who isn't as unhappy as I am at the specs. I've actually gone back and forth between getting one of the high-cd production lights coming out soon, versus seeing if a modder can bring the XT2CR to competitive specs for me... that switch setup is just awesome

 

[Blades]

I didn't see the 14kcd specs. I thought this one would be better. I'll wait to see what the next lights are. 😊

 

[Dave D]

If you can wait maybe the 'Yaeger Light' will meet your needs, it's Surefire LX2 based, it won't accept a 18650 but will probably work with a 16650 battery.

It's basically a Tactical light with a low mode, by twisting the head.

No news on the release date at the moment.

Check out the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu9hmB6YUr0&feature=youtu.be

 

[Blades]

Joe,
Did you ever find the "perfect" light?

 

[Joe Talmadge]

Nope. My prediction that manufacturers would "obviously" fill this niche was completely wrong. I mean, they keep coming out with 1"-bodied 18650/123A do-everything lights with XPL-HIs... and then they're at 14kcd. What can you do? My everyday light is still that Eagletac, short-throw switch and all, it's the closest to meeting my needs overall with good quality and robustness

 

[Blades]

Nope. My prediction that manufacturers would "obviously" fill this niche was completely wrong. I mean, they keep coming out with 1"-bodied 18650/123A do-everything lights with XPL-HIs... and then they're at 14kcd. What can you do? My everyday light is still that Eagletac, short-throw switch and all, it's the closest to meeting my needs overall with good quality and robustness

The Eagletac DX30LC2? Does it have a crenulated bezel? Time to google!

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Not sure if the Thorfire TK18 ramping LED light is close enough but it does have the momentary feature plus 3-1200 lumens.

 

[Scourie]

I have a DX30 which I've fitted with a de-domed Xpg2. Output of about 700 lumens and a throw of 35k cd. These days the race is for more lumens and that usually means bigger leds and less throw.

Thread here;

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?439955-Looking-for-a-slim-thrower&highlight=

 

[Crazyeddiethefirst]

I have a rare old Four Sevens 18650 body tube that also takes two CR123A or 16340 cells and all Quark heads fit on it so I can have as much or as little throw as wanted/needed. Would that have checked all the boxes for your "do everything" light? I know it is a moot point since Four Sevens sold, but perhaps the new owner would resurrect it if the need was great enough....

 

[Joe Talmadge]

I have a DX30 which I've fitted with a de-domed Xpg2. Output of about 700 lumens and a throw of 35k cd. These days the race is for more lumens and that usually means bigger leds and less throw.

Thread here;

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?439955-Looking-for-a-slim-thrower&highlight=

That is turning out to be true. I thought that since it's possible to do 20kcd in a light this size with an XPL-HI, that the manufacturers would naturally pursue that (since if they chose to use XPL HI in the first place, throw is part of the point). Instead, they're coming out with 12kcd-14kcd lights that are barely beat out the old XMLs in the size. Just bizarre to me.

 

[MCorbin]

Well crap. I was really hoping something that met all your requirements would come along. That still sounds like the perfect light.

 

[Joe Talmadge]

I have a rare old Four Sevens 18650 body tube that also takes two CR123A or 16340 cells and all Quark heads fit on it so I can have as much or as little throw as wanted/needed. Would that have checked all the boxes for your "do everything" light? I know it is a moot point since Four Sevens sold, but perhaps the new owner would resurrect it if the need was great enough....

I'll tell you, it would be pretty awesome to be able to change heads, from a 1000 lumen 22kcd xpl HI to a 3000 lumen wall-of-light LED, etc. It's a nice model. I don't think 4sevens made any heads that met my performance requirements, and am not even sure about the bodies (forward clicky with momentary? Mandatory that pushing the back button does NOT progress the light between modes? Ability to guarantee the light will turn on in high?). But do like the lego aspect

 

[Scourie]

I had high hopes for the Fenix FD range, but spot mode is average at best. The FD30 achieves 10k cd at max!

 

[MCorbin]

1 year necrobump. Has anything new come out in the last year that fits your parameters? The Eagletac DX3L looks like it has potential, but the candela seem low considering the lumen output. Is there anything else I'm missing?

 

[430Scuderia]

Joe T, The Nitecore MH12GT seems to fit your criteria. Size, 1000 lumens, 25700 cd, 320m distance. Have seen this review below? With a video too.
Around the 3:45 mark, not sure if I see a delay on the momentary operation? Maybe they fixed it! That would be great if they did.
My only concern is about Nitecore quality. Seems to be hit or miss.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/v...-REVIEW-2019-Nitecore-P12-and-Nitecore-MH12GT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=481&v=mKXPwR6f9xM

 

[Dicaeopolis]

I don't have one, but wouldn't the Surefire EDCLT-2 meet the criteria?

 

[Joe Talmadge]

I don't have one, but wouldn't the Surefire EDCLT-2 meet the criteria?

The EDCLT-2 fails the 18650 criterion, and that's an important one . Wonder if it can run 16650s? SF's also usually have a their own interpretation of a great defensive beam, although I couldn't find specs, I'd expect typical low (12k?) candlepower from them but would love to be proven wrong

 

[Joe Talmadge]

1 year necrobump. Has anything new come out in the last year that fits your parameters? The Eagletac DX3L looks like it has potential, but the candela seem low considering the lumen output. Is there anything else I'm missing?

Thanks for re-bumping! You know, I was sooooo sure by now we'd be swimming in options. But despite the ubiquity of HI emitters, we're still mostly only seeing 12-15k candlepower. Really a bummer. DX3L is a case in point, really cool light, but not what I described in that initial post

 

[Joe Talmadge]

Joe T, The Nitecore MH12GT seems to fit your criteria. Size, 1000 lumens, 25700 cd, 320m distance. Have seen this review below? With a video too.
Around the 3:45 mark, not sure if I see a delay on the momentary operation? Maybe they fixed it! That would be great if they did.
My only concern is about Nitecore quality. Seems to be hit or miss.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/v...-REVIEW-2019-Nitecore-P12-and-Nitecore-MH12GT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=481&v=mKXPwR6f9xM

Agree! FAntastic news if they fixed the delay. But unfortunately I agree with you on Nitecore quality.... at least anecdotally through the forums, it's a concern.... but if you're not worried about that, it ticks all the boxes. Thanks for pointing it out!

 

[Dicaeopolis]

I realized that after I posted it, but thought it may take 16650 or two RCR123s. I don't know though. It is rare that I use a light with that many lumens. The Malkoff MDC HA LMH would work on the MDC 18650 to E Series body, but high is 400 lumens. You could put a Sportac 2 level drop in inside an 18650 host. They have a few options. The low is still pretty high though. I am not sure of the runtime. I have one in a Malkoff VME head on a 16650 body, but it works well on the18650 to E series body.